Regretting Us
Blake Lively v. Justin Baldoni
My most recent story for New York magazine (shared with you very belatedly) was about the legal drama between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. The trial in this case was set to begin today, until both parties thought better of it and settled earlier this month—but not before spending a lot of money on their respective legal teams:
There was certainly no shortage of attorneys’ fees being paid out. As I made my way through the docket, the number of legal professionals involved seemed to multiply: 27 people from seven different law firms trying to schedule a time and place for Lively’s deposition; 29 of them emailing back and forth to determine if the correct video of Jamey Heath’s wife’s home birth had been produced; 32 on an email about whether one set of lawyers had accidentally sent another set privileged information. I thought I was done counting when I found 37 on an email about a subpoena for Perez Hilton, the gossip columnist, until I read an exchange among 38 about whether a deposition should start at 8 a.m. or 9 a.m.
The trial may not be happening, but our deep dive into the texts, emails and other documents buried in the court files offers an inside view of how power and influence work in Hollywood, the dark art of modern PR, and more. Thanks for reading!